Farmhouse Style Hutch Gets Painted Black But Is It Blah?

Black Farmhouse Style Hutch

The hutch I bought at the Nashville Flea Market years ago was a mess. It had missing veneer, extra hardware holes, missing hardware, decorative flowers painted all over it, a missing shelf, and a warped back. Is that all you ask. No but that’s the big stuff.

It’s been in the workshop holding Sofi’s playthings and other junk. I replaced it with a smaller piece during the workshop purge. I finished the hutch last week but it’s taken me awhile to get the post together. We’ve been going to our Granddaughter’s softball games every night this week and it’s been 9 p.m. or later when we got home. Fun but tiring.

I’m working on a really pretty side table. The color is one I haven’t used before and I love it. I can’t wait to finish it up and share it with you. I also put up some new DIY curtains in the kitchen. If you’ve been here a while you know all about my kitchen curtain saga. I might share the new look with you.

This makeover had a lot of steps with a lot of photos but I’ve condensed it down by editing out some of the photos.

This is the hutch after the makeover. Black paint with bits of the original green paint peeking through in the distressed areas.

This is how the hutch looked when I brought it home in 2013. It had been decorated with thickly painted flower designs. I made the decision to paint the hutch black and not sand off the painted designs beforehand. I knew it would take a lot of sanding and I guessed the green paint was lead paint. Most paint made before 1977 was lead based paint and I think this piece was painted before then.

There were a number of extra holes in the drawers. I tried to figure out which of the screw holes were the original ones. The others I filled with wood putty.

I glued and clamped the broken veneer back in place.

The backing on the top of the hutch was peeling and warped so we replaced it.

The JTS cut a piece of 1/4” Luan to fit the back of the hutch and I nailed it in place with my Ryobi brad nailer (new favorite tool).

We also cut a shelf to replace the missing shelf. The wood is a table top leaf. I got it at my favorite junk shop for $3. I told Mr. Butler I was looking for wood to make a shelf and he suggested the table top because it was nice and thick, solid wood, and big enough for the job. The JTS measured and cut it to size. You couldn’t buy wood to make the shelf at the hardware store for $3.

The new back fit perfectly.

The inside of the hutch was a bit stained and dirty.

I cleaned it up with Howard’s Feed n Wax.

When cleaning the shelves in the bottom of the hutch I noticed the back had bowed away from the shelf. The JTS used screws to pull the back and shelf together.

I brushed on two coats of Beyond Paint, Licorice color. I painted the new shelf and new hutch back before attaching them to the hutch. Much easier to paint that way. Next I used my battery powered Ryobi sander to distress the edges, the floral accents and any detailed areas on the hutch, including the drawers.

To cover the raw wood and the white streaks caused by sanding I applied a coat of Howard’s Wax, walnut color.

Dark wax can also be used to age or antique paint like I did with the cedar chest below…..

Click here for the details on the red iron star chest.

The two drawers and the three cabinet doors called for a combined total of 10 knobs. The easiest and cheapest thing to do was spray paint 10 wood knobs of various sizes to use on the hutch. The new owner may want to change out the knobs to fit their décor.

Black Farmhouse Style Hutch

Once all the knobs were in place they looked too shiny. I brushed a bit of FolkArt Home Décor Chalk in black over the knobs. The chalk finish is flat and looks much better than the shiny spray paint.

I distressed the black paint just enough to let the painted flowers and a few bits of the green paint peek through the black paint.

The overall look is definitely country or farmhouse style. At first I wasn’t sure about the hutch but the more I look at it the more I like it. What do you guys think? Be honest but be kind in your comments. I took it to the shop yesterday so we will see how fast it sells, if it sells.

I have a new video for a project coming up later this week. You get to see it first. On this video I am on camera…..not my favorite thing to do…talking you through using white wax to accent furniture details. I love white wax. Gives furniture a designer look. The video is below….

How To Use White Wax On Chalk Type Paint

As always thanks for being here and have a great day, Kathy

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